Twins(On Hold)

Prologue

Two mewling cries filled the air. And they weren't associated with grief or pangs of sorrow. It was the sign of new life.

"Time of birth 12:17 am and 12:19 am of 13th july."

Gregory Nolan experienced torrents of relief as a surgeon placed two wrapped bundles in his trembling arms. Tiny faces, hued red, were half-hidden inside. Their tiny almost hairless eyebrows in a knot of irritation. No one likes being disturbed from sleep.

"Twins! A boy and a girl!" A surgeon whispered to him and smiled. Gregory bit back an urge to yell aloud and tell the world. Instead he whispered to his wife. 

"Honey! Did you hear that? We got both a boy and a girl! We got twins!"

His wife smiled weakly at him; too weak to even speak. She wanted to hold her babies in her arms and felt giddy with excitement but alas, her body won't let her. A doctor injected some painkillers into her pipe.

"Everything is all right, Dorothy. You rest now. You will feel better when you wake up."

Slowly the white room loomed out of focus and she slipped away to sleep. She couldn't wait to meet her children.

*

The nursery

Rows of small cradles filled the room, most of them occupied by small babies peaceful in their slumber. The clock on the white wall showed 6:17 am. As the second hand was about to complete another revolution, it stopped halfway. And with it stopped everything; the people stopped moving, earth stopped revolving, our universe stopped expanding. Only two beings stirred. The Nolan boy and her twin sister. He squirmed in his cradle and let out a cry of annoyance.

At that moment, the infants both opened their eyes for the first time while an oblivious world stood frozen. With big brown eyes they took in their first glimpse of the world.

Slowly, tendrils evolved from thin air. They were a pure white colour that seemed to exude some light. The tendrils resembled smoke but they were somewhat more viscous like molten metal.

Gradually extending towards the gaping babies, the finger-like tendrils cradled and lifted them from their bed. The Nolan twins observed the whiteness around them with big curious eyes.

When substantially above the rows of cradles, some of the smoke converged into two glinting purple crystal. They hovered over the head of the infants. The baby boy lifted his chubby hand to grasp the shining gem but before he could reach it, the gem embedded itself in the centre of his forehead. The infant, experiencing sharp pain, started crying out loud, but the crystal kept pushing through.

Seeing her brother in pain, the girl extended her own pair of chubby hands towards him. The other stone started pressing into her forehead as well. Suddenly the gem melted into their tender skin. The baby twins kept struggling before turning completely still. Their small young hearts weren't pumping anymore.

The tendrils hoisted them back to their cradle and then shrank back to nowhere just as mysteriously as it had arrived.

Once again the second hand started ticking and the busy world started running. With a jerk the small dormant hearts started pumping again. The two babies' skin turned paler. Every hair they had turned silver. And when they opened their eyes this time, they weren't brown. They were deep purple.